


Forged in Iron

by Pearl_Unplanned



Series: Cap_Ironman Bingo 2016 (1) [19]
Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Cap_Ironman Bingo, Established Relationship, Howard Stark’s A+ Parenting, Hurt Tony Stark, Insecure Tony Stark, M/M, Stony Bingo, Tony Stark Feels, Tony Stark Has A Heart, mentions of child abuse, mentions of mpreg
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-27
Updated: 2016-07-27
Packaged: 2018-07-27 04:11:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,144
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7602913
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pearl_Unplanned/pseuds/Pearl_Unplanned
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There were three things that Howard passed on to his son: a love for Captain America, Stark Industries, and that iron backbone that Stark men knew all too well. That was the Stark Legacy.</p>
<p>There were three things that Tony would pass on to his own son.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Forged in Iron

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt: Legacy

 

            There were three things that Howard passed on to his son: a love for Captain America, Stark Industries, and that iron backbone that Stark men knew all too well. That was the Stark Legacy.

            Tony was used to being alone as a child. He got used to constant rejection, he got used to working alone in his little child-lab as he taught himself anything that he needed to know. He taught himself math, science, technology. He missed out on learning what love felt like. He didn't even get the love he was looking for when he showed his father all sorts of little things he'd made.

            It wasn't enough.

            He knew that his shitty childhood had made him stronger, it really had. It hurt him—it led to his drug abuse, his alcoholism (just like dear old Dad) and everything else. It led to him being a playboy, searching for affection that he hadn't gotten as a child, and it led to him being absolutely _terrible_ with relationships.

            But he _could_ form relationships, though. That was for sure. After all, he _did_ have the Avengers—they were his _family_. And, you know, he and Steve.

            Mmm. He and Steve.

            In the past several years, not only had he managed to _start_ a relationship with the super-soldier, but he'd also managed to maintain the relationship, and even get that super-soldier to marry him. Sure, they'd had some problems—Tony guessed that most of it was his own insecurities, but then there were other things... one of the major ones being their little 'civil war' as Clint had so wonderfully dubbed it. Thankfully it hadn't gone on that long—they'd both given in, really. They'd both ended it before it got out of hand.

            It made them stronger, Tony was sure it had. After all, Steve had still agreed to marry him, and he'd still shown up at the aisle. They _did_ kiss.

            But this wasn't about Tony, and this wasn't about Steve. This was about Peter.

            So Tony knew that Steve wanted a family, which is why he almost called the whole thing off years ago. But he couldn't. He was selfish. He loved Steve too much to give him up. So, with Bruce's help, they created a way to be able to allow one of them to get pregnant.

            Tony wanted to test it on himself—what if it hurt Steve? He'd never allow that to happen. But somehow, Steve convinced both scientists that he was the one who was going to have the child. Something about how he'd recover faster whether it went right or wrong, and Tony's body wasn't good at adapting, but his was, so obviously he was the right choice. When they had conceived, Steve whispered to Tony about how he'd always wondered what it felt like to have life growing inside him.

            It felt like pain, apparently. It felt like an overload of emotions, it felt like waking up in the middle of the night because the baby wouldn't stop kicking him, it felt like his insides were being pushed apart in ways that they shouldn't be.

            It felt like love, apparently. It felt like wonder, that first kick, it felt like joy at the thought of the baby they'd be holding in their arms, it felt like just the right about of bitter in the sweet, like everything was okay in the world and all he had to worry about was the little child they'd introduce to the team soon enough.

            Tony had been terrified when he'd learned that they were having a boy. He'd been praying for a girl, because maybe he wouldn't mess up so badly if it was a girl, maybe he wouldn't make the same mistakes that his father had made with him, maybe he'd be able to change things so that there wouldn't be another Stark kid growing up lonely, praying for her father's attention, crying when she was alone.

            But they were going to have a boy, and all of Tony's insecurities piled on, worse than ever before.

            It wasn't that he wasn't excited to have a son, no, he would've been happy with a son or a daughter. It just reminded him so much of his own father... And Steve must've been able to sense that, because they talked, and Tony broke down. He told his lover everything, all of his fears, all of his insecurities. He told him about his childhood, something he'd never had the nerve to speak to anyone about before. He cried, but he wasn't able to hold anything back. Steve listened as he told him about the nights when Howard would come back drunk and beat the shit out of him. Steve held him as he cried, whispered in his ear that he wasn't his father, he wouldn't do that.

            And anyway, Tony was sober, he'd been sober for a long time. Even if he was worried about that, it wouldn't happen, because he'd never go into a drunken rage in front of their child.

            They spent the rest of the night snuggling and kissing and whispering baby names.

            The name _Peter_ seemed to stick pretty easily. Both were glad.

            As the weeks went on, Tony tried his best to keep his husband sane as he had to sit out from missions. They helped each other, because it wasn't easy on either of them.

            But it was worth it. It would _always_ be worth it.

            It was the moment that Tony first laid eyes on Peter, as the boy was handed to his beautiful, strong husband, when Tony realized something.

            He _wasn't_ his father, he wasn't Howard. He wasn't going to fail Peter in the same ways that his own father had failed him. He didn't _have_ to be the man who had raised him. He could be so much more than that, because he felt _love_ when he looked at the two men in the world that meant the most to him. Thank God, if there was one, that Peter had Steve's eyes, those perfect eyes.

            No more were Stark men forged in iron, judged only by the keenness of their character and the amount of money they were able to make. No more were they taught that strength came through holding back emotions, through giving up morally if it meant making it in the business world. No more would Stark men be taught that love can't exist without pain, and that children should not be given that love that they deserve unless the pain they're given either matches or exceeds it.

            Tony wasn't Howard. He would do better.

            There were three things that Tony would pass on to his own son: a love for Captain America, Stark Industries, and all the love that he could give that boy. That was the new Stark Legacy.


End file.
